Mixtape Review-Medicated Consumption by Chris Rivers

Can’t tell you how proud I am that the first Chris Rivers review I did for this site was written not knowing he was Big Pun’s son ( I live in Maine). I was able to talk about his talents and opportunities frankly and without any weird baggage. I have weird Big Pun baggage because Capital Punishment is my favorite rap album of all time and I’ve seen that documentary where Pun pistol whips the love of his life in front of his friends and it was like watching Mickey Mantle pee on America. Almost every day I wrestle with Pun’s legacy and Rivers seems so content with it, so intelligent about the subject in interviews and lyrically. If I ever interviewed him I would just basically be asking him to coach me through to a reasonable mental place; where it’s the best album but the bad reality lives alongside it and doesn’t hurt anymore.

Rivers has been smart enough to build on the natural press release that his lineage creates for him and add dimensions to the picture in your mind. His newest mixtape Medicated Consumption is much better than anything previous. The first song Born For This talks about carrying the torch, the times when the torch wouldn’t pay the bills and most importantly reassuring the listeners I KNOW THIS IS A BURDEN AND I CAN HANDLE IT. I like that Rivers doesn’t segregate his songs into “for the ladies” and “hard stuff for the streets” Medicated Consumption is a fine mixture of smart tough and reflective. He starts Black Box with “Don’t stress let them labor you, just do what you have to do. Remember it’s never what they call you but what you answer too, don’t let your words do more speakin’ than your actions do….” It’s still the dynamic middle of Little Italy Pun flow but used to support a whole different system of ideas.

While Pun always had warmth and humor he lived in an era where men were men and rappers were tough as nails (or at least that’s how they always had to act). Rivers can conversationally discuss real happiness and depression, ups and downs that are internal. The One, for example, is about keeping your mental health amongst the nagging negativity of exterior and interior anxiety. It’s purposeful optimism, horns and The Whispers don’t hurt. They are on nine of the eighteen songs and have the confusing effect a great bassist has. Every song they do with Rivers shines and that’s not a coincidence but placing exactly what they add can be difficult. It’s the musical difference between a fresh hat and a dirty one. You wear a fresh hat and you feel that. Every time Rivers and the Whispers are together he feels the difference.

The most surprising thing for me is that eleven different producers add to the stew of Medicated Consumption but you would NEVER guess that. This feels like it was done in a day with minimal effort and maximum payoff. Rivers invites features NO sane lyricist would. Who wants Cory Gunz near their project after what he did to Wayne? Nitty Scott is so good but a total track killer (she is on my favorite song I Just Wanna Rap). Chris doesn’t care at all. He knows what his dad did to every collaboration and he’s fine with the responsibility to keep that going. I love listening to this mixtape because I feel like Rivers may not have his path in music all the way figured out but he created the soundtrack for having your life right and I need that on Monday morning.